Eliza Hancock's mother Philadelphia was a sister of Jane Austen's
father. She went to India to marry Tysoe Saul Hancock in 1753.
Eliza was born in Calcutta in 1761 and perhaps she was the natural
child of her godfather Warren Hastings (1732-1818). Eliza and
her mother travelled back to England in 1765, her father remained
in India.

After her father's death in 1775 she moved
to Paris with her mother because life was cheaper in France.
In 1781 she married a French army captain, Jean-François Capot
de Feuillide, with whom she had a son, Hastings. Her husband
was a French count. After the French revolution she returned
to England with her mother in 1790. Her husband was loyal to
the monarchy and died under the guillotine in 1794.

In
England she married Jane Austen's brother Henry in 1797. Her
son died in 1801. Eliza and Henry had no further children. Elizabeth
was able to ride and she played the harp. This added to speculation
that she was the model for Mary Crawford in Jane's book "Mansfield
Park". After a long illness Eliza herself died in 1813 in London
with Jane at her side. She was buried next to her son.

In
2002 a book by Deirdre Le Faye on her life and letters was published.